


What's In A Name

by scriba_vindex



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: A Quest To Unravel The Mysteries of the Force...But it's all on Earth, Action/Adventure, Adventure & Romance, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/M, Hopefully Something of an Epic, Rey is a Struggling Academic Turned Jedi, Reylo - Freeform, The Force, The Force Ships It, The Resistance vs The First Order but on Earth, Think Indiana Jones or National Treasure-Type Globetrotting Adventure, We start at a university but you can bet we're not staying there
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-25
Updated: 2020-04-27
Packaged: 2021-03-01 18:47:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 14,357
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23831842
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scriba_vindex/pseuds/scriba_vindex
Summary: Rey is a struggling academic specializing in the world's most niche subject (Historical Enigmatology), working under the world's most absentee boss (Luke Skywalker), investigating a trail of mysterious historical clues (she is about 60% sure they are actually leading somewhere) that point to the existence of a Force™ on Earth that might explain her own unusual abilities.Her unexpected ally in her search is none other than Kylo Ren, high-ranking First Order official and certified asshole extraordinaire.What follows is an adventurous, elaborate Rey and Ben get-together romp that transpires in various locations around the globe and features many familiar faces and themes from the Star Wars universe. It's just...all on Earth.(Or: I asked myself the question "can I put the sequel trilogy characters through an Indiana-Jones type adventure on Earth and have it still feel like Star Wars?" and this was the result)
Relationships: Kylo Ren/Rey, Kylo Ren/Rey/Ben Solo, Rey/Ben Solo, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 4
Kudos: 11





	1. Proposition

Absentmindedly, Rey raised her hand and, fingers outstretched, sent her cup of tea sliding across the desk and into her palm. Her eyes had remained glued to the document she was perusing, so she emitted a tiny yelp of surprise as she felt steaming tea slosh onto her knuckles upon impact. 

Uttering a couple choice curses under her breath and half-heartedly examining her hand, Rey suddenly remembered that Rose Tico was in the room. She lifted her eyes from the paper and glanced rather anxiously at Rose’s stare, wondering what kind of reaction her casual tea summons had merited. 

Rose was a similarly young, overworked, underpaid University faculty member, and one of Rey’s closest friends. Even before they could have called themselves friends, they’d been housemates, and Rey had spent the better part of a year desperately hiding her…affliction…until one day Rose had caught her accidentally levitating her tube of toothpaste whilst brushing her teeth. That first time, Rose had screamed so loud that their nearly-deaf elderly neighbour had knocked to investigate, and it had taken Rey two cups of jasmine tea and a good deal of assuring Rose she wasn’t crazy to calm her down. Rey had been kicking herself for letting her carefully guarded secret slip, but she’d consoled herself with the knowledge that they’d bonded over the incident, at least. 

The next few times (when she noticed Rey lazily summoning the TV remote, stirring a pot of soup from half a room away, or something else of that sort) Rose had taken to reeling off a string of curses and then pasting on an uncomfortably large smile as if trying to act like nothing had happened. In the past month or so, Rose’s reactions had been getting less and less dramatic; consequently, Rey had become less disciplined about hiding her abilities.

_A bad habit I’ll have to kick._ She thought to herself grumpily.

Swallowing nervously, Rey’s eyes found those of her friend, and she was pleased to observe just a subtle widening of Rose’s pupils. Progress. 

“Sorry,” Rey muttered, pasting on a smile that inevitably didn’t reach her eyes as she took a sip of her tea. 

For as long as she could remember, Rey had always felt more than she should have. Had had more control over her environment than she should have. Had existed with a brain that was more tuned-in than it should have been. From her earliest memories and onward Rey had been manipulating objects without a second thought, as though she were grabbing at strings running through the visible world that only she could see. 

However, her abilities were lately becoming more potent…more natural. It was becoming easier to mix them into her everyday activities, which would have been fine if other people were accustomed to seeing cups skittering across desks of their own accord. 

Unfortunately, they weren’t. Rose was one of only three people she’d slipped up in front of, so she was one of only three who knew that they were living alongside a…

_What am I?_ Rey thought bewilderedly for about the thousandth time in her 26 years. _A sorceress? That’s probably too nice a word for it-_

Rose interrupted her train of thought with raised eyebrow and a pointed sound as she glanced at the document that Rey was crunching beneath her hands. 

“Ah. Right.” Rey murmured apologetically, straightening as she refocused her attention on the neat, hand-written scrawl before her eyes. It was a letter, which Rose had hastily rushed over to Rey’s office as soon as it had appeared on their shared doorstep:

_Dear Rey,_

__

__

_I’ve looked into the energy signature readings at the various coordinate estimates you provided. Of the 34, 14 showed promise. I’ve attached a list of those that have been flagged. It’s a start, but unfortunately narrowing down the precise locations of interest any further will likely prove extremely resource-draining._

_I’m meeting with a committee later this week to discuss funding for an investigative operation, but I am not hopeful. Those with any sway in the financial voting are not traditionally inclined towards matters of this nature- they prefer cruder defensive options. I’ll keep trying, but unfortunately our pet project may be on hold for the foreseeable future._

_I’ve appreciated your consultation and correspondence. Do stay in touch and say hello to my brother._

_May the peace be with you,_

_General Leia Organa_

Rey exhaled sharply. “Shit.” 

“Not good news, then?” Rose grimaced. 

“Apparently,” Rey huffed, furrowing her brows, “our little ‘pet project’ is at an end.”

“She _didn’t_ call it that-“

Rose snatched the letter and read it hastily, her expression sinking as her eyes moved down the page. 

“She did.” Rey mused unhappily, swivelling in her chair. 

Rose attempted to appear consoling. “At least you got a personal letter from the General of the Resistance herself?” she proposed with an awkward half-smile. “One of the most influential women in the world wants to stay in touch-“

“I would have preferred if the Resistance- the world’s largest peacekeeping and defence organization- didn’t brush aside my life’s work on account of _finances_.”

“Life’s work…” Rose chuckled, “you’re only 26.”

“But I’ve been studying under Master Luke for nearly four years with nothing to show for it.” Rey huffed, draining the last of her tea so quickly that she nearly choked. She stood up, brandishing the empty cup. “The backing of the Resistance would have finally gotten us somewhere- we might have gotten out into the field for some _real_ research-“

“Research into what, exactly?” Rose prompted with a sigh, adding fuel to the fire on her eternal quest to figure out what exactly Professor Luke Skywalker and his only student, Rey, were actually up to.

“We’re still working on that bit.” Rey muttered, staring into her empty teacup as if the answers might be hiding in there. They might as well have been, for all the good real research was doing. 

“Speaking of your Master Luke,” Rose interrupted more primly, clearly sensing the prickly nature of Rey’s current mood, “why doesn’t _he_ talk to his sister and all her Resistance folks?”

“He’s on sabbatical.”

“Where?” Rose prompted, unrelenting. 

“No idea,” Rey admitted, clenching her teeth. “In addition to all this -“she gestured to a monstrous stack of papers on the far side of her desk “Luke told me that while he’s gone I need to narrow down our list of possible locations using technology that only the Resistance possesses- which I’ve done,” Rey exclaimed, her voice rising, “but a fat load of good it’ll do given that we can’t fund whatever comes next-“

Rose interjected with a firm, “When will Luke be back?”

Rey massaged her temples, trying to shoo away the headache that was blossoming there. “I don’t have all the answers, Rose.” 

Rose crossed her arms and sighed. “So, your project has hit a couple roadblocks-“

“-Everyone at this university thinks my supervisor is crazy,“ Rey corrected, “No one will fund a thing we do in this ridiculous department and our project is a mess!”

“Rey.” Rose breathed calmly, standing up to place her hands on her friend’s crossed arms. “I don’t think it’s as bad as you say. And I think it’s time for us to get you out of this office for a while.” She muttered with a small smile. 

Rose, bless her kind-hearted, patient soul, was an optimist. And an excellent friend. 

Rey glanced around at her tiny, wood-panelled space. It was in the darkest, dankest hallway at the University of Edinburgh; her “office” was more of a broom cupboard with an awkward slanted ceiling and a few shelves loaded with old mechanical parts and half-assembled bits of engineering. It perpetually smelled like a wet basement where something had previously died, and what little light could get in from the grimy, narrow window on the north-facing wall only served to illuminate the many empty teacups and loose papers that littered all the surfaces. 

“You’re right.” Rey admitted eventually, allowing Rose to lead her out the narrow doorway. As soon as she was away from her derelict office and the pressures of her project, she felt loads better. 

“I’m sorry that getting the Resistance involved didn’t help,” Rose tried, steering Rey in the direction of the university’s cafeteria. 

“Easy for you to say,” Rey smirked, “you basically _work_ for them-“

“I just translate stuff for them sometimes.” Rose mused humbly, all talk of the Resistance-- one of the worst kept “secret” organizations in the world—drying up as the pair stepped into the noise of the cafeteria. 

“And they couldn’t have a better translator- miss _I speak thirteen languages including three that are extinct _-“ Rey teased, until she was cut off by she and Rose’s arrival tableside to two of their friends.__

____

____

Poe Dameron—Rey’s friend from over in the machine shop, where she spent any time she wasn’t spending on her project—was actively arm-wrestling her best friend Finn, a student in the history department, which was arguably the closest department to the strange niche that Rey and Luke’s research had carved out for them at the university. 

Rey’s attention was re-alerted as Finn gave a celebratory holler as he successfully rammed Poe’s arm into the table. 

“ _That’s_ three!” he declared joyously, “you’re buying me lunch, Dameron.” 

Poe mouthed an unsubtle _Fuck you_ , but smiled as he clapped eyes on Rey. “Tico finally dragged you out of your cave!” he decreed impishly. 

Rey rolled her eyes. “I like my cave, thank you very much.”

“No you don’t,” Finn chuckled, “It smells like piss and it’s almost as small as your apartment.”

“Our apartment is perfectly adequate,” Rose admonished, looping her arm around Rey’s conspiratorially. 

Poe diverted his attention back to Rey. “If you want to avoid going back to that hellhole for any longer than you have to later, you should drop by the shop and see what I’ve been working on.” He mused, “I haven’t seen you in there in weeks.”

“I haven’t had the time,” Rey admitted flatly. A hint of legitimate regret pierced her core. The machine shop was one of her favourite places- she hadn’t realized she’d been neglecting it so adamantly. 

“Poe, you’re not building another one of those- what did you call them? Droids?” Rose groaned as she and Rey flopped into the seats opposite Finn and Poe. 

“Only the actual best one yet!” Poe retorted, offended. Rose huffed in her seat. 

“I’ll try and stop by later.” Rey promised, eager to assure Poe that she hadn’t lost her interest in machines and tinkering despite how much time she’d been spending staring at words on paper lately. 

“I miss when we used to hang out,” Finn complained. 

“We’re hanging out right now?” Poe proposed, bemused. 

Finn punched him playfully in the shoulder. “No, I mean like _quality_ time together, like when we all went down to London to help with that cipher thing of Rey’s-“

Rey cocked her head to one side, “That was a research project that you were all just helping me wrap up- if you can call marathoning movies in the hotel room and staying out way too late while I worked my ass off to decode the cipher ‘helping’,” she mused with a hint of a dry laugh. 

“We helped and it was a very good time. Very productive.” Finn clapped back, causing Rose to roll her eyes. “If you have any more of those field trips coming up you’d better bring us along.”

“Noted.” Rey uttered quickly, mostly so Finn would stop drifting into project territory. 

Rose suddenly yanked Rey back to her feet. “I’m starving,” she declared, “let’s get something to eat so I can get back to my translations at home.” 

Rey didn’t object, allowing her friend to drag her towards the food. Her stomach grumbled as her eyes passed over the salad bar, grill, and hot meal counter, but her brain drifted into thoughts of her meagre bank account. Being a lowly underling to a poorly-funded half-fictitious department that was the smallest at the university did not pay well. 

_Something small, then._ She decided, glancing around at the culinary offerings and feeling her mouth water. _As usual_. 

As she stepped up to one of the counters with Rose, she drily uttered “one half-portion, please.”

* * *

Rey ate her meal quickly, only half-listening as Poe regaled the three of them with a tale from his latest stint up in a stunt airplane; in addition to being an accomplished engineering faculty member with a particular talent for robots, ( _“Droids!”_ he would correct people bluntly, if they opted to use the R-word) Poe was a gifted pilot who spent his weekends performing impossible maneuvers thousands of metres up in the air. When asked why he liked flying, he’d usually spew some boring retort like _“I like it up there.”_

Today’s tale involved a crazy barrel-roll to avoid a large flock of birds – _“You’d think the flying bastards would know to get out of the way when my Speeder comes charging toward them, but NOOO”_ —though Rey couldn’t get properly invested in the story, as her thoughts kept straying back to the bottomless pit that was her project. 

Eventually, the summons of the unfinished paperwork on her desk became overwhelming, and she politely excused herself from her friends, promising Poe that she’d try to drop by the machine shop that evening, and telling Finn and Rose that she’d meet them back at the apartment later. 

Rose shot her a baleful glance as she departed, perhaps pitying her for having to return to her dank cave of an office so soon. 

Rey trudged along the familiar wood-panelled hallways towards she and Luke’s miniscule square footage in the back of the history department, lost in thoughts of coordinates, energy signatures, and cryptic symbology. 

She was interrupted abruptly by the sight of an imposing male figure seated in her office. 

If she’d been more prone to fright, she might have screamed as Rose had done upon walking in on a levitating tube of toothpaste; Rey never—might she repeat, literally _never_ —had a visitor to her office that wasn’t Master Luke or one of her three university friends. 

Instead, she tried to still her hammering heartbeat and pasted an affronted expression over her features as she stepped over the threshold, clearing her throat and sending what she hoped was an intimidating scowl in the intruder’s direction. 

If the office had been bigger, perhaps the sight of Rey prowling around to the seat behind her desk might have inspired more menace, but the space was rather cramped. Instead, she supposed she just looked awkward weaving her way over to her chair, as the uninvited visitor was only a couple feet away and seemed to be tracking her with an unbroken gaze. 

Rey took a cramped seat at the musty old swivel chair behind her desk and finally raised her eyes to study the intruder properly. A strangled sound caught in her throat as she did so, which she hoped she did an effective job at stifling. 

He was, to say the least, quite nice to look at. He was tall—comfortably over six feet, she’d wager—and seemed to effortlessly fill Rey’s dingy office with his haughty, imposing presence despite being scrunched into the same undignified wooden chair that Rose Tico had so surreptitiously occupied just an hour previously. 

Clad in crisp black, he had a rather long face framed with waves of cascading raven hair, which nearly covered what must have been a pair of prominent ears. His hair looked soft, and Rey reflected that she had never, until this very moment, ever found the idea of touching a stranger’s hair remotely appealing. 

His proud expression, which did not appear remotely fazed at being found in someone else’s office, was composed of a pair of full lips, a subtly hooked nose, and eyes that were simultaneously hard as flint and surprisingly gentle upon close observation; they were soft brown in colour and reminded Rey of staring into the surface of her favourite oolong tea. 

She had intended to speak first and chastise him for pompously waiting here, uninvited, in her office, but the words died on her lips. She lost the opportunity when he cleared his throat—a guttural yet measured sound—and became the first to speak. 

“Hello, Rey.” He intoned calmly, in a deep pitch that rumbled over to Rey’s ears like thunder rolling over the horizon. She nearly shivered. 

Straightening in her seat, Rey attempted to sharpen her gaze. “Hello, random man I’ve just returned from lunch to find dwelling in my office.” She retorted in a clipped fashion. 

The stranger raised an eyebrow at her, though his mouth remained pressed in a flat line. “I think _dwelling_ might be a bit dramatic.” He mused drily. Rey noted an American accent. 

She ignored him and pressed further. “Who are you?” Rey insisted, urging her voice to sound more commanding than she felt, before deciding to add a touch of diplomacy, “And what can I do for you?”

“My name is Kylo Ren,” The visitor replied tersely, his gaze remaining fixed on hers, “And I have a…business proposition for you.”

* * *

Kylo Ren had not spent much time in universities as of late. Once, what might have been a million years ago, he’d nearly committed to spending his adult life in a place like this University of Edinburgh. But certain…complications had redirected him toward this current path, in which he’d spent the bulk of a decade working and training relentlessly to rise in the ranks of the First Order. 

It was on First Order business that Kylo found himself in the University at this instant, brushing shoulders with academics and overworked students on yet another hunt for an asset. Of course, the assets and resources he was used to dealing with were not usually human. And they were not normally female. 

Finding the office had proven somewhat challenging; it was tucked away in a remote corner of the University’s sprawling history facility that no one seemed to know the exact location of, and was not large in footprint (about the size of his second closet, if he felt like being exacting). 

Luckily, the name he’d been provided to pursue-- Rey—had been inscribed on a handwritten sign and affixed to the right of the door of interest, confirming that he was in the right place. No last name and no titles. Unusual in a university setting, where everyone typically insisted on affixing all manner of letters to the ends of their names. 

In a further streak of luck, the office’s door had proven to be unlocked. Kylo had not hesitated to let himself into the cramped space, figuring that a few moments to settle into and study the environment would not go amiss before the conversation he endeavoured to complete took place. Technically, he would be on her turf, but he intended to provide himself with as much of an advantage as possible should the conversation steer into negotiation territory. 

Meticulously, he settled himself into a creaky wooden chair that sat opposite from the swivel variety that he assumed was this girl—Rey’s—own. It was distinctly uncomfortable and had an awkward subtle tilt. Ignoring his discomfort and waiting patiently, he cast his eyes around the dingy space. 

The most jarring observation that Kylo noted was the presence of various bits of machinery throughout the space, as though the office’s occupant was always tinkering with several devices at once. The tools and bits of metal strewn about the room juxtaposed aggressively with his knowledge that this individual was supposed to be, first and foremost, a student of the arts. 

Kylo’s attention was particularly drawn to a half-finished device that looked to be an elaborate time and temperature-controlled tea-steeping system. This _Rey_ was evidently an avid tea drinker, if the dozens of empty mugs littering the overburdened shelves weren’t enough of an indication. 

The other glaring observation that was ascertainable as one perused the room was the utter lack of personal devices. There were no images of friends or family members, no degrees on the walls (despite Kylo’s knowledge that this girl had multiple to her name), and, aside from teacups and trinkets, nothing else to give a hint as to Rey’s character. 

Kylo nearly huffed to himself at the utter unhelpfulness of the room; he distracted himself sufficiently that, had he not _sensed_ her approaching presence a couple seconds before her appearance, he might have been completely caught off guard as she materialized in the doorway. 

Kylo had a knack for reading people- for sensing the… _auras_ they gave off, for lack of a better term. Sometimes, he even wondered if he had a certain awareness of people’s thoughts, as he was often privy to them before an individual opened their mouth. He normally didn’t give his heightened awareness much thought, but then, he’d never encountered an aura so powerful and pervasive as that of Rey as he felt her approaching down the long hallway outside the office. 

And so, as it happened, he was caught off guard when Rey entered the room, but not because he hadn’t known she was coming. Instead, it was because her aura…her _signature_ on the environment, was intoxicating. it took a significant effort to keep his expression even and his stare blank as he regarded the girl in the doorway. 

It didn’t help that she looked the way she did. 

She was tall, for a girl, with a relaxed yet self-assured carriage of her head and shoulders that might have been awkward if it wasn’t so endearing. Her mousy sienna hair was drawn back into a messy braid, with a few delicately curled wisps escaping to frame her face. Her skin had a hint of colour as though for some period not long ago she had spent an abundance of time in the sun. She had, (Kylo was ashamed at the shallow vanity required to admit it), very nice eyes. They were a sort of shallow ocean green and edged with demure dark lashes. As much as they contained a great deal of surprise, her eyes themselves seemed to smile.

However, below her pixie-esque nose, her pale lips were pressed into an expression of distaste. Perhaps her eyes and her aura were…smiling…but her mouth certainly wasn’t. 

Kylo registered her clearing her throat and consciously wondered if he should stop staring as she lithely navigated her crowded office and set herself down in her chair with a surprising degree of grace. He realized a half-second too late that he’d stared at her throughout the entire movement and shrugged internally, deciding that the loss of face was worth it. 

Once she had settled, he immediately steeled his resolve and attempted to regain control of the situation. He was suddenly acutely aware of the subtle core strength required to remain perfectly upright in such an awkward tilted seat. Kylo cleared his own throat purposefully and urged his voice to remain level as he decreed a measured “Hello, Rey.” 

He studied her carefully, a subtle twitch of her shoulders betraying that she was, ever-so-slightly, floundering in this interaction. Unconsciously, his eyes drifted over her green gaze, and toward the delicately scrunched skin between her brows. He saw the tension in the region lessen as she composed herself and issued a reply. 

“Hello, random man I’ve just returned from lunch to find dwelling in my office.”

Kylo shouldn’t have been surprised, yet he found himself stifling an involuntary shudder at the pleasant, ringing timbre of her voice, chastising though its delivery may have been.

“I think _dwelling_ might be a bit dramatic.” he quipped before he could stop himself. 

“Who are you?” Rey pressed, “And what can I do for you?” she added, softening her delivery of the latter. 

On top of her not unpleasant appearance and distinctly pleasing manner of speaking, Kylo realized that her blazing energy signature was equally distracting. It was difficult not to fixate on it as he forced himself to focus back on his words instead. 

He found he couldn’t extract his gaze from hers, and hastily uttered, “My name is Kylo Ren. And I have a…business proposition for you.” 

He stilled in the godawful wooden chair, studying her reaction. 

Her expression was unflappable, her gaze boring into his own with an admirable intensity. “Yes, but who are you?” she insisted steadfastly. 

“Truthfully,” he started, fighting to remain stoic under her scrutiny, “that doesn’t particularly matter. You are the person of real interest in this conversation.”

“Is that so?” She quipped, raising an eyebrow in legitimate surprise and veiled curiosity. “Do tell- what makes me so interesting?” 

Suddenly feeling more self-assured at the prospect of steering away from a discussion of any substance and into the cold presentation of information, Kylo reached fluidly into his black cloak and withdrew a sleek datapad. In a heartbeat, he had pulled up the First Order’s data file on Rey. 

Across the desk, she looked quizzical but held her tongue. 

“You were orphaned from a young age,” he recited methodically, “grew up in greater London in a less-than-luxurious orphanage situation until the age of fourteen, when you ran away and subsisted alone, working as a sort of scrapyard scavenger and black market tinkerer while simultaneously educating yourself sufficiently to gain admission to university.” He finished. “An impressive degree of dedication and perseverance for someone so young and in such difficult circumstances.”

Rey, to her credit, appeared remarkably unfazed to hear her earlier struggles laid bare in the dank office air. Kylo couldn’t help but glance at the various devices and tools that littered Rey’s current environment- remnants of a past life she’d never fully shaken, perhaps?

He refocused on the datapad screen and continued. “You started university at 18—and not just any university, but,” Kylo paused for dramatic effect, then continued with a pointed note of incredulous confusion “ _Cambridge_ , where you completed simultaneous degrees in history and _engineering_ in just five years, the latter of which you graduated top of your class-“

“Spare me your questions,” Rey interjected impatiently, “about ‘how on Earth I ended up here’.” She replied flippantly, gesturing at the uninviting office around them. 

“But it is rather odd,” Kylo countered, ignoring Rey’s attempts at deflection as he scrolled further down her file, “A graduate with your university pedigree could have done _anything_ next, yet you began a Masters of- “he squinted slightly at the words, “ _Historical Enigmatology_ here in Edinburgh, followed by an ongoing PhD under,” Kylo hesitated measuredly as he read the name, “Luke Skywalker.”

“Yes?” Rey responded tersely, after a time. She seemed to be taunting him into questioning her further; Kylo decided that she was quietly commanding in an untrained, innate way. He wondered if it would cause him trouble later. 

“I just mean that it’s a rather unusual trajectory, is all.” He admitted eventually, settling once more into stillness on his frustratingly sloped chair. 

She nearly _smirked_ at him. “And yet, you’ve sought me out here in my dingy, middle-of-nowhere office, regardless.” She mused calculatedly. “Did it ever occur to you, Mr. Ren, that I might have positioned myself here on purpose.” 

“You _were_ difficult to track down- it’s tough to locate someone who, for all intents and purposes doesn’t even have a last name- but if your purpose is to hide in here from the likes of me, it seems you’ve ultimately failed.”

“Regrettably, that would appear to be the case.” Rey pondered, her eyes seeming to measure him. Despite Kylo’s intel, her confidence was growing. He recognized that he needed to accelerate the conversation. 

“My proposition is on behalf of the First Order.” He quipped suddenly. 

Immediately, he sensed a shift in Rey’s aura, perhaps apprehension or distrust, though she hadn’t moved a muscle. 

“You’ve heard of it?” He prompted, noticing that her lip was nearly twitching with her desire to interject. 

“I’ve heard many things.” Rey mused, rolling a pen around in her hands as though she’d grown nervous. “Generally, they’ve not been of a nature that would leave me inclined to acquiesce any kind of Frist Order request.”

Kylo bristled a little at her use of fancier speech- she was trying to figuratively isolate herself within the conversation using words, a tactic that he was intimately familiar with. He shook his head, “The First Order ideology doesn’t need to come into play right now. This proposal is about your project.”

At the mention of her work, Rey perked up, re-affixing her light emerald gaze on his. Kylo was reminded of a dog snapping to attention at the mention of food. 

Rey lifted her gaze just the slightest, so she was almost staring down her nose at him. “How do you know about my project? How do you know anything about me?” 

“The First Order has virtually limitless resources.”

“Can’t say I know what that’s like.” Rey huffed. 

“Which is why I can help you, Rey.”

She paused a moment, sizing him up once more. “What do you want from me?”

“I want you to come with me to investigate a site that, unless I’m mistaken, you and your Master Luke have been working to isolate for the better part of two years.”

“Where?”

Kylo hardly hesitated before reciting “Latitude 57.586841, longitude -6.271445. The Isle of Skye.”

Rey didn’t even bother to pretend that the coordinates didn’t mean something of great value, instead she uttered a hasty “Why?”, her eyes alight with curiosity once more. 

“Your area of study, as obscure and largely ignored as it may be-“ Kylo mused, causing Rey to shoot him a deeply offended, penetrating glare, “is the only one of its kind in the world. You possess unique expertise that may be of use to my business on Skye.”

It was most of the truth. Enough to be a passable explanation for showing up unannounced in Rey’s office, at least. 

She seemed to lower her hackles slightly at his explanation, pondering something before continuing. “So, you need my help,” she started carefully, “but why should I bother?” she mused, pretending as though the prospect of outside support for her project wasn’t uniquely thrilling. Kylo saw right through her façade, as her aura was pulsing with a sort of restrained excitement.

“What I mean is, what’s in it for me?” She added, mistaking Kylo’s hesitation for uncertainty. 

“Let’s call it a fully funded field expedition,” Kylo mused, “you’ll be quite comfortable and well-paid, and if we find what you and I are looking for, we will share it”.

He could almost feel, tangibly, the impact that talk of money had on Rey. Once a scavenger, always a scavenger, he figured. And, judging by the state of her office, she wasn’t exactly living a life of luxury in her current circumstances, despite her multiple degrees. 

But she was hesitating on something. 

“So, you would help me finally get out there to investigate my life’s work,” she interrupted primly, “but if I find it, I will be sharing it with the…First Order.” She said flatly, shuddering as the name of Kylo’s organization passed over her lips. 

“That is…the arrangement, yes.” Kylo murmured slowly, choosing not to dwell on how she’d automatically referred to he and the First Order as one and the same. His visage darkened as he realized that Rey was shaking her head. 

“No…” She muttered, “No- I can’t.”

“And why not?” Kylo quipped in a restrained, rather small voice. He could feel frustration flaring behind his eyes. He had not expected any resistance during this visit. He wasn’t about to tell Rey, but her presence was more important to his mission’s success than he was letting on. 

Kylo realized he was gripping the tilted chair’s armrest rather firmly as he struggled to remain in control of his notoriously fervid temper. 

“There are fundamental conflicts of interest between myself and the First Order-“

“-I will undertake this mission,” Kylo cut her off sharply, “with or without your help.” He declared firmly, his voice rising. He was quickly losing control. “It will make things easier if you accept-“

“-What, are you going to _make_ me?” Rey seethed, frustration now evident in her voice as well. “As far as I was aware this meeting was merely a _proposition_ , not some kind of…forced coercion into selling my academic property!”

“This is bigger than some University project, Rey.” Kylo urged flatly. He realized that in the last few seconds he’d somehow stood up subconsciously, so that he towered over Rey as she glowered at him from behind her desk. 

She took a couple heavy breaths before continuing, her chest rising and falling in a punctuated fashion. She seemed to be gritting her teeth. 

“If I do this, it will not be for you or for your stupid _First Order_ ,” she spat, with an unexpected amount of venom. “It will be for me.”

“Fine,” Kylo grumbled, suppressing the desire to roll his eyes. “Just say you’ll do it-”

“I have a couple conditions,” Rey interjected, raising a finger as if to physically prevent him from continuing. “First, you will need to be _one hundred percent honest_ with me about what you intend to do with our findings-“

“- I’ll tell you if or when we actually find anything-“ Kylo mused through gritted teeth.

“- _And_ ,” Rey continued, ignoring him, “Three of my coworkers are coming with us.”

Kylo opened his mouth to protest, but she cut him off efficiently, “That one is non-negotiable, because I am not trekking around the Scottish Highlands with just you and your grumpy ass for company.” 

Kylo exhaled sharply, glaring at her. Those eyes that he’d been finding so compelling up until their conversation had turned sour suddenly seemed more frustrating than anything. As intriguing and magnificent (in a stubborn, steadfast kind of way) as Kylo had found Rey in the ten or so minutes he’d known her, he could tell that she was going to prove a significant pain in his ass. 

“Okay.” He agreed in a quiet, reluctant voice. He had no choice, but he was praying he wouldn’t regret agreeing to her terms later. “Who are these…coworkers?”

Rey brightened visibly at their mention, and Kylo suppressed the urge to groan. 

“They’re all very qualified,” she assured him quickly, “there’s Rose, a linguist, she speaks 13 languages-“

_Impressive, if I didn’t already speak 14 myself,_ Kylo thought drily. 

“-and there’s Finn, whose specialty is early medieval history so he’s full of useful stuff that could definitely help us, and he’s got lots of combat and fighting training, to boot-“ 

_How did he come by that?_ Kylo legitimately wondered. Fighting skills of any real quality were uncommon among individuals outside the military or First Order spheres. 

“- and Poe is a really great engineer and pilot.” Rey concluded brightly, utterly ignoring Kylo’s soured expression. 

“These sound more like friends.” He muttered flatly.

Rey gave a dry hint of a laugh, “Well, they _are_ technically coworkers, since they’re all employed by the university.”

“They’re friends.” Kylo corrected unhappily. 

Rey shrugged. “A deal is a deal. Are we headed into the Highlands or not?”

Kylo let out a punctuated sigh and stowed his datapad back in his cloak. “A First Order vehicle will arrive at your apartment tomorrow morning at 6am to take you to the airport.”

“All of us?” Rey prompted, her voice softening now as her irritation towards Kylo was being replaced once again by excitement. 

He gave a curt nod and straightened, grateful at the prospect of imminent departure. 

Rey looked almost pleased as she leaned over her desk, her gaze on the stack of paperwork that she was about to render obsolete with a real expedition to see the things she’d been writing about. The sight of a ghost of a smile tugging at Rey’s lips as she bid Kylo goodbye remained imprinted on his brain long after he left her office behind. 

* * *

Rey selected Rose’s name from her speed-dial list with a great deal of impatience, humming frenetically to herself as she waited for the bus at a stop beside the university. 

“Rose,” She stammered hurriedly, as soon as her friend materialized at the other end of her phone line. “Have I ever got news for you-“ 

“Me too!” Rose exclaimed excitedly through the phone. “I think I found you a date to the-“

“ _Rose!_ ” Rey lamented in exasperation, sealing her eyes shut, “ _Forget_ that- we’re going on another…field trip.” She finished lamely. “It’s _much_ more important.”

Rose hesitated a moment, evidently unsure whether to be offended at Rey’s complete shutdown of her romantic proposition. “What makes you say that?” she challenged, “you don’t even know who-“

“It’s about my project,” Rey tried, urging Rose to understand. “A man showed up in my office after lunch- he’s headed on an excursion like the one Luke and I have been talking about planning for _months_ and he wants me to come along-“

“-I take it back, this is actually interesting-“ Rose offered.

“-And I convinced him that you and Poe and Finn need to come too, because I wasn’t about to go running off with some… _stranger_ all by myself-“

“What did he look like?” Rose crooned.

Rey rolled her eyes. “Like…some guy, I don’t know,” she provided awkwardly, feeling a blush creep up her cheeks as she recalled her initial…physical attraction to Kylo Ren. 

_At least until he started shouting at me and telling me what to do._ She recalled bitterly. “Anyways, what matters is that we need to gather our things because we leave tomorrow morning at 6am for the Highlands.”

Rey could nearly sense Rose narrowing her eyes over the phone. “You expect Finn and Poe and I to just…drop everything to wake up stupidly early and come on this crazy hike up north with you and…some guy?”

“But you will come, won’t you?” Rey prodded as the bus came to a stop in front of her. 

After a pause, Rose offered a steadfast, “Yeah, of course we will.”

Rey smiled to herself as she stepped onto the bus.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So...I'm curious if anyone is remotely interested in where this is going. :P I legitimately have no idea if this is something anyone might want to read, so hit me with kudos or a comment if you're into the idea of more instalments and are feeling generous! 
> 
> It's an idea I hatched while listening to adventurous movie soundtracks and I decided to give it a try. I've always loved the vibe of classic adventure films (think a protagonist squad following cryptic clues to various exotic and interesting locations, outwitting bad guys and generally trying to avoid peril) so I wanted to see what would happen if I transposed Reylo onto that kind of setting and played around with the enemies to friends to lovers trope. And here we are. (I have an entire plot outlined and am actively writing)
> 
> So anyways, thanks for making it to this note! If for some reason you like this crazy idea, let me know!


	2. Skye

“ _The_ Kylo Ren?” Rose exclaimed, clapping a hand over her mouth as she halted in the middle of flinging a pair of socks into her suitcase. 

“Should his name mean something to me?” Rey muttered dully, tossing clothes of her own into a bag haphazardly. They were meant to be leaving for the Isle of Skye in just over eight hours, so the exercise of packing was markedly rushed. She had casually mentioned Kylo’s name in response to one of Rose’s many passing questions, and now she regretted it, as her friend’s drawn-out, exaggerated reaction was inevitably going to cost them both sleep. 

“He’s only one of the _highest_ -ranking members of the First Order- the world’s largest weapons corporation and the living counterpart to the ongoing peacekeeping efforts of the Resistance…” Rose finished, trailing off towards the end as she got lost in thought. “Wait,” she added, glancing quizzically at Rey. “are we field tripping for the... _First Order_ , then?” she admonished with a hint of panic. 

“Yes,” Rey replied absentmindedly, until she noticed Rose’s widened eyes and added a hurried, “No! I mean- sort of…?” 

Rose immediately started babbling somewhat incoherently. “This is bad…nope, we can’t…General Organa…Kylo _freaking_ Ren…” she groaned, flopping down on Rey’s bed. “I know this is for your life’s work and all, but the _First Order_ , Rey!”

“It’s not really them, Rose, it’s just one man.”

“Who freaking _works_ for them!” 

Rey sighed, flopping down beside Rose. Her friend immediately cast her a wicked side-eye. “He’s good-looking, isn’t he.”

Rey’s mouth flew open; she knew she must have been blushing from the raised eyebrow Rose cast in her direction. “That’s hardly the point-“ she uttered hastily.

“That’s not a no!” Rose chided, crossing her arms. “Regardless of whether he’s the handsomest man alive he’s still committed to an organization that represents the polar opposite of the Resistance- which I technically _work for_!”

Rey opened her mouth to protest, but Rose continued. “Did you know that Poe’s parents were both members of the Resistance? That they were killed in a skirmish _against_ the First Order?” 

“I-“ Rey started. 

“He hates them, Rey; I know he and Finn already agreed to come but they are _not_ going to like it when they find out what we’ve signed up for.”

Rey swallowed, considering her words carefully. “You three don’t have to come if you don’t want to,” she decided, not meeting Rose’s eyes, “But I’m going, regardless. I’ve got too much invested to stop now.”

“Don’t be silly.” Rose chided, “there’s no way we’re letting you go backpacking alone in the highlands with some sketchy First Order leader.” 

Rey emitted a small smile, reflecting on how grateful she was for her friends’ unwavering support. 

“I know this whole situation is not ideal, but I’m stuck, Rose.” She implored, searching her friend’s stare for some degree of true understanding. “This project is something I _have_ to do. I would tell you why if I knew…I don’t, yet, but I can feel that it’s important.”

“Kind of like how you can _feel_ that you are levitating a hairbrush behind your left shoulder right now?”

“What?” Rey stammered, glancing over her shoulder and realizing that her brush was indeed hovering a foot off the bed. She shook her head and allowed it to fall with a thud. “No- I mean- this project is bigger than just Master Luke and myself. It feels like it’s what I’m meant to do, and I have to complete it in any way possible.” She declared, shooting Rose a steadfast look. “Luke is…absent and the Resistance won’t back our project, but I’ve found someone who will.”

Rose sighed. “Don’t you think that General Organa would want to know that the First Order is sniffing around you and her brother’s project? She said to stay in touch.”

“I suppose.” Rey admitted with a shrug. “But it shouldn’t matter- it’s not like any of us know any huge Resistance secrets that we could spill…”

Rose suddenly looked evasive. “I do read a _lot_ of their documents…some of them are pretty high-level-“

Rey raised an eyebrow at her friend, “you’re not going to go telling Kylo Ren what you’ve read, or anything, right?”

“Of course not.”

“Then we’re fine,” Rey decided, assuring herself as much as Rose. “We’ll just go see this place Luke and I have been theorizing about for three years, see if we can find anything, and come back.” She mused flippantly. “Everything will have been paid for, I’ll have crossed a physical location off my list-“ she added, gesturing to the tiny bag in which she’d stowed the list of locations Leia had sent, “and the Resistance will never be any wiser.”

“I’d feel better if you would at least tell the General that we’re going, even if you don’t tell her with whom…”

Rey gave a sigh of resignation. “Fine, I’ll send her a letter tomorrow from the airport.” 

“Speaking of,” Rose countered, “Why _does_ the leader of the Resistance communicate with you using…snail mail.” She muttered with disgust, her nose crinkling. “It’s slower than dirt.”

“The General believes that the worldwide postal services are somehow less corruptible than the use of technology.” Rey mused neutrally.

“While she may have a point,” Rose quipped, “I know for a fact that she makes regular use of Holo video tech for like…all of her other calls.”

“Then it might just be because I can’t afford a Holo device and she’s sparing me the shame of admitting it.” Rey admitted, deftly summoning a shirt out of her drawer and sending it flying through the air to land in her hands, where she examined it scrupulously for holes before tossing it into her suitcase.

* * *

Kylo steeled himself as his Master’s name appeared on the Holo device that was a few feet from his face, indicating an incoming call. He would have backed up in order to put some distance between himself and the glowing blue screen, but it was just north of 6am and he was stuck in a cramped First Order car trundling towards the Edinburgh airport. Space was tough to come by. 

He straightened and pulled his features into a void-like mask as he accepted the call. 

“You’re heading to an airport.” Snoke’s gravelly voice intoned by way of greeting, scarcely a second after his scarred face had appeared on the Holo screen. 

It hadn’t been a question- as usual, Kylo reckoned, his Master was privy to everyone and everything’s movements within the First Order. 

“Yes.” Kylo affirmed, in what he hoped was a self-assured tone that left no room for interrogation. 

“Not to the private vessel that was to return you and the asset to base.” Snoke mused.

Had Kylo not been so familiar with his Master’s disappointed, scathing rumble of a tone he might have shivered. Technically, he had been prepared for this confrontation, but nothing in his mental imaginings of how the conversation would play out even compared to the scathing discomfort of the actual thing.

The prospect of throwing himself out of the car as it sped down the highway was becoming mildly appealing, if only to spend one less second under his Master’s scrutiny. 

Instead, Kylo swallowed and straightened his spine once more. “We’ve had to make another arrangement. I will bring the asset to you when the arrangement is complete.” He promised, his lie echoing unconvincingly even in his own ears. 

_It’s not completely a lie._ He mused internally. _It’s just that, for once, I’m operating on my own agenda instead of blindly adopting Snoke’s._

He felt his Master’s dark gaze studying him, and caught himself reflecting on how different-- how much more uncomfortable-- it was than that of Rey’s. The seconds passed like hours, lending Kylo the distinct feeling that he was awaiting a sentence. 

Eventually, Snoke decided to put him out of his misery.

“Only because you have proven yourself several times over will I tolerate this diversion from the original plan,” Snoke decreed flatly, demonstrating a surprising degree of trust, though his eyes still bore into Kylo’s. “But I will _not_ tolerate subterfuge- you will return to the _Supremacy_ in three days’ time and provide a full report about what transpired during this…diversion. You’ve left your knights without a leader and they are growing restless.”

Unable to believe his good fortune, Kylo bowed his head and attempted to still his breathing. Had he been in the _Supremacy’s_ throne room, he would have kneeled. 

“And when you return you will bring the girl.”

Kylo’s heart rate unwittingly accelerated once more. He had always known that Snoke ultimately wanted Rey to appear before him in the flesh, but having now met her the prospect was surprisingly jarring. 

Kylo nodded to appease Snoke, but his gut was churning at what he would inevitably have to do when the detour to Skye was at an end. 

He heard but didn’t see Snoke add, “Or there will be…consequences.”

The scars that littered Kylo’s body prickled at the latter word- ghostly reminders of all the times he’d previously faced Snoke’s wrath. 

Regardless, he uttered a hapless “I will, Master.”

“Good.”

Snoke’s face flickered once and them dematerialized as he ended the call, his last firm utterance hanging in the air unpleasantly. 

Kylo exhaled raggedly, simultaneously relieved and deeply disquieted by the prospect of facing Snoke in three days’ time and attempting to explain why he’d dropped everything to hike around the Scottish Highlands. 

_What would I even tell him?_ Kylo wondered. _That I have needed to undertake this journey for as long as I can remember? That there’s something up there that is deeply important to both my fate and the fate of this world? That Rey is a necessary part of it?_

He knew these things vaguely, though truthfully, Kylo didn’t know exactly what he was getting himself into up on Skye. All he knew was that for the time being his and Rey’s purposes for needing to go up there were aligned, albeit thanks to different motivations. She seemed to have a purely…academic interest in the location. His interest was more personal. 

He absentmindedly tugged at the energy fields in his immediate vicinity within the car and, extending his hand, sent a ruby-coloured apple floating out of his travel bag. He allowed it to hover for a moment, detachedly studying the ability that he’d spent years trying to hone, and far less time trying to understand. 

Perhaps now was finally the time for answers.

* * *

Rey was excellent at functioning on very little sleep. It was an ability that was merely carryover from her time as a black-market repair person slash scavenger, as those in need of her services had tended to summon her at all hours of the night. 

Rose, on the other hand, preferred operating within the confines of normal circadian rhythms and was an absolute nightmare to drag out of bed any earlier than 9am. Hence, Rey had had a heck of a time getting her housemate out of her bed and into the First Order car that appeared outside their apartment building that morning. The dragging process was so chaotic that she nearly forgot to go back for their bags; it was only Finn and Poe’s arrival (and Finn’s impressed statement that the pair of them had packed _remarkably_ light—like, _no bags_ light) that prompted Rey to scamper back up to the apartment to gather she and Rose’s things. 

Now, sitting comfortably in the back of the black SUV, which was driven by a man in a crisp First Order uniform who was separated from she and her friends by thick glass, Rey felt as though she was finally taking her first proper breaths of the morning. The vehicle trundled efficiently towards the airport, carrying Rey and her friends towards the first step of their journey with all haste. 

She cast a glance over at Finn and Poe, who had had the least time to digest the circumstances of the expedition. After Rey had confessed to Rose that the mysterious encounter in her office had been with Kylo Ren, her friend had insisted that they call Finn and Poe immediately to fill them in on the finer points of the adventure that they’d been sucked into. Namely, that the entire endeavour was being funded by the First Order. 

Despite the late hour, there had been a good deal of shouting, and several pointed criticisms of Rey’s judgement and common sense, but ultimately her friends had both agreed that there was no way they would let Rey undertake her journey to Skye alone, just as Rose had promised they would. 

_I’m lucky to have them_ , Rey reflected gratefully, casting her gaze over each of her friends in turn. Rose was snoring, her head lolling against the SUV’s black leather seat. Finn had his nose in an early Scottish history textbook, and Poe was…trying to get her attention.

Rey gave her head a tiny shake as she focused on Poe, realizing that he had a rather large box rested on his lap. Somehow, she’d only just realized that he was holding it. Perhaps she was more tired than she realized. 

Speaking quietly to let Rose remain sleeping, Poe leaned towards Rey. “Check this out,” he urged, gesturing to the inside of the box. 

Rey peered over the edge and observed a familiar orange and white shape. “You brought the one you showed me yesterday in the shop!” she exclaimed brightly, attempting to mask her trepidation.

“ _He’s_ coming with us,” Poe assented, evidently pleased with himself, “His name is BB-8.”

From behind his text, Finn raised an eyebrow and snorted. “It’s a he?” 

“Shut up and read your book,” Poe mused, elbowing Finn in the ribs. “ _He_ is my proudest work-“

“Are the Scottish Highlands really the place for a droid?” Rey mused cautiously. 

Poe rolled his eyes. “Everywhere is the place for a droid- he’s designed to be helpful in all situations.”

“Have you ever actually booted him up?” Rey prodded, her curiosity getting the better of her. 

“A few times already,” Poe admitted nonchalantly, “He helped me fly the other day-“

“-You had him up in the _air_ with you??” 

“Yes, he’s an excellent help with navigation-“ 

“That sounds glaringly unsafe.” Finn chimed in unhelpfully from behind his book. 

Poe shrugged. “What the hell, I’ll just show you.” He decided flatly. In one swift motion he extracted the small, rounded droid from its box and placed it on the floor of the SUV. Before Finn or Rey could protest, he’d fiddled with something on BB-8’s circuitry panel, causing the droid to whirr to life with a collection of bright, animated beeping sounds. Rey had met several of Poe’s lifelike droid creations over the past few years, but as far as she was aware he’d never engineered one that sounded so…charming. 

BB-8 rotated his camera towards Rey and emitted a series of what could only be described as happy beeps.

“Is it possible that he remembers me from yesterday?” she mused breathlessly. 

“He’s engineered for all kinds of complex processes, many of which resemble human activities and reactions-“ Poe started, “-so, yeah, there’s a very good chance.”

At Poe’s admission, a small panel opened on BB-8’s side and he stuck out a spindly metal arm with a sort of tiny lighter flame at its distal end. The action distinctly resembled the droid giving a “thumbs up”, and Rey had to stifle a laugh. 

“I like him.” She admitted, which elicited a broad smile from Poe. 

“He’s neat and all,” Finn confessed, setting down his history text. “But I’m more concerned about our impending introduction to First Order mastermind _Kylo Ren_.” 

Poe’s expression darkened, but Rey couldn’t help but leap to the defence of the man who was funding their expedition. 

“He’s not a _mastermind_ -“ she started, stammering a little, unsure why exactly she felt compelled to defend such a grumpy lump of a man as Kylo. 

Finn raised an eyebrow at her. “He kind of is, Rey. Or, he works for an organization full of them, at least.” 

At his side, Poe was suspiciously quiet, his mouth pressed firmly shut. BB-8 was observing the interaction fastidiously, as if in fascination. 

“Just because I need his help funding my project does not mean I agree with what he stands for.” Rey suggested hollowly. 

“ _Do_ you know what he stands for?” Finn interrogated, his voice surprisingly calm. “What the First Order has done?”

Rey struggled to articulate what she knew of the infamous global organization- they were a poorly understood, mysterious group, but one that was frequently discussed on global platforms in less than favourable terms. She knew that they had armies, ships for both land and sea, and lots and _lots_ of weapons. 

Finn appeared to grow impatient awaiting her response, so he interjected, casting a furtive glance at the driver behind the thick glass before proceeding in a whisper. “There are allegations that the genocide of the state of Alderaan can be traced to First Order involvement.” He informed Rey coldly. “And they’re known raise vulnerable children to become mindless killers for their army.”

“The Stormtroopers?” Rey tried in a quiet voice. 

“Where did you think they got those soldiers from, Rey?” Finn quipped, ignoring her questioning tone. “You’re lucky they never raided _your_ orphanage.” 

For a long moment, Rey was stunned. She recalled vaguely that Finn had mentioned an absence of parents in his upbringing, but he had always seemed keen to avoid the topic, so she’d never prompted him for more information. 

“H-how do you know all this?” She stumbled out eventually, trying to meet Finn’s thoughtful brown gaze. “What are you saying?” 

He seemed to be avoiding meeting her eyes, suddenly re-invested in his history book. “It doesn’t matter.” He muttered, inadvertently echoing Kylo’s words from the day before, Rey reflected. 

_I wish everyone would stop trying to tell me what is and isn’t important._ She thought numbly. 

“What matters,” Finn continued in a hushed tone, “Is that Kylo Ren is bad news- if he so much as _looks_ at you the wrong way I’m going to bash his face in.” 

“Seconded.” Poe echoed, breaking his silence with a melancholy tone. 

Rey sighed. “I appreciate both of you supporting me with such…vigour…and for taking on this expedition even though you don’t agree with it-“

“It’s not the expedition we don’t agree with.” Poe assured her suddenly. “We are absolutely thrilled that you and Luke’s mysterious project is finally getting off the ground….it’s _him_ we have the issue with.” 

The stout dislike that permeated Poe’s tone made it abundantly clear who “ _him_ ” was. 

“Then please,” Rey implored them, “For my sake, don’t worry about what the First Order might be up to and just focus on tolerating Kylo’s presence for a few days-“

“Oh, is that how long this hike is going to take?” Poe mused pleasantly. “That’s good, I’d like to make it back to the university by Monday-“

“You didn’t even know how long I was planning on dragging you both up north for and you still agreed to come?” Rey stammered, bewildered at the degree of faith her friends had afforded her. 

Finn and Poe shrugged in unison, and BB-8 chirruped supportively. Rose emitted a particularly loud snore from her slouched position on Rey’s right side. 

She really didn’t deserve any of them.

* * *

Kylo waited impatiently on the tarmac at the Edinburgh airport. A misty rain was falling over the secluded corner of the airfield that he’d reserved for their takeoff. His datapad indicated that it was 6:27am; the black SUV was nine minutes late. He frowned at both his travel companions’ tardiness and the irritating way that the fine rain was leaving droplets on his First Order-issued black leather boots. Behind him, the engines of the _Dauntless_ , the sleek flying transport vehicle that he’d commandeered from the _Supremacy’s_ hanger, hummed in preparation for an efficient departure. 

_If Rey and her friends ever decide to grace me with their presence._ Kylo scowled. 

As if on cue, the black SUV appeared in the distance, passing through a security checkpoint and approaching Kylo and his ship haphazardly, as though the driver knew they were late. 

Kylo Ren held his breath and furrowed his brow as the vehicle slid to a stop and opened its doors, its passengers spilling out messily. 

The first thing he registered was two males assisting- no, _hauling_ \- an unconscious dark-haired feminine form out of the right side of the car. Kylo might have been concerned, except her snores were audible even from several metres away. By the girl’s shorter stature, she was most definitely not Rey. 

_The linguist_. He decided, trying and failing to not make any snap judgements about Rose’s lack of early morning alertness. 

The two males supporting her must have been Finn and Poe- the pilot and the historian. If the pair were shocked at the SUV’s bypass of the usual airport security and abrupt arrival beside a state-of-the-art flying vehicle, they hid it well. For reasons Kylo could not comprehend, one of Rey’s male friends looked familiar; he made a mental note to try and figure out where from the next time he was alone. 

They were trailed by an orange-and-white droid; the intelligent programmed beings were a familiar sight for those involved with the First Order, which made use of hundreds of them for menial tasks on board the _Supremacy_. But droids were, to Kylo’s knowledge, virtually non-existent outside his organization. He tried to hide his surprise at the way this one had nonchalantly rolled out of the SUV with a metallic thud. 

Kylo’s fastidious inspection of Rey’s…coworkers…was interrupted by the arrival of Rey herself. She stepped out from around the other side of the car and froze in his sightline like a deer in headlights. 

She’d fashioned her hair into a trio of vertical buns, was the first thing that Kylo noticed. Despite the increased tidiness of the style, a few spindly wayward curls had still escaped to frame her cheekbones. 

He next observed that she’d clad herself in a pair of slim beige trousers and a lightweight belted grey tunic overlaid by an insufficient-looking jacket. Rey’s solid brown boots looked to be about the only thing she was wearing that was suited to a northern hike. 

“You’re going to be cold. And wet.” Kylo muttered in her direction, before he could stop himself. 

The expression on Rey’s face immediately adjusted to one of distaste and offense. “Good morning to you too.” She clapped back, ever-so-slightly lifting her nose at him. 

Kylo cursed himself internally. 

“You’re one to talk,” Rey added with a palpable note of exasperation as she began hauling she and her friends’ bags toward the ship. “Can you actually move in that black straitjacket of a getup?”

“Very effectively, actually.” Kylo preened, fighting to keep his voice level. He gritted his teeth slightly as he decided to not abandon polite curtesy, “Perhaps I could…take care of those bags that you are struggling with so…dramatically.” He offered.

“I-“ Rey huffed, “-am _not_ -“ she lifted one of the bags so high she nearly teetered sideways, “ _struggling_!”

“Your trajectory towards my ship would indicate otherwise.” 

“Shut up.” Rey muttered in a low voice, scowling. “Why don’t you go start your plane or something.” 

“She’s already running.” Kylo pressed, his irritability rising proportionately to Rey’s. “She has been for twenty minutes.”

He thought he saw her roll her eyes before she wandered off towards the _Dauntless’_ open cargo bay. He realized much too late that he’d been watching her go, his attention only diverting at the sound of a measured throat-clearing. 

He turned to regard one of Rey’s coworker-friends, who’d materialized directly in front of him, arms crossed. 

“Tall. Dark. Exceptionally brooding with all the makings of an arrogant asshole,” the man muttered slyly, his eyes scanning Kylo’s form. “You must be Kylo Ren.” 

Kylo clenched his jaw as he tried to decipher the nature of the dislike in the man’s tone and energy signature, but he was hiding the motivation for his hatred very well. 

“And you must be Finn or Poe.” Kylo replied blankly, unwillingly to give the man the pleasure of a negative reaction. 

“He’s Poe.” Another male voice indicated stiffly, preceding his appearance at the side of the arrogant one who had spoken first. “Sorry for his complete lack of tact and civility. I’m Finn.” The new arrival declared levelly. He extended a rigid hand in Kylo’s direction, as if seeking a handshake, but retracted it quickly when Kylo merely nodded. 

“Finn may be the better diplomat, but I’m the realist.” Poe mused with a ghost of a smirk. He turned his head as Rose and the orange droid appeared on his right. “These two,” he started, appearing grateful for the distraction, “are Rose Tico and my droid, BB-8.”

Rose looked much more awake now, and was eyeing Kylo warily. At her side, the droid was… examining him…if droids could do such a thing. 

Kylo cast his attention to Rose, and uttered a businesslike “ _Ciamar a tha a ’Ghàidhlig agad?”—How’s your Gaelic?_

“ _Tha a ’Ghàidhlig agam gu math, taing._ ” Rose replied efficiently. “My Gaelic is fine, thanks.” She repeated for the benefit of Finn and Poe, who were eyeing the exchange bewilderedly. 

Finn suddenly appeared testy. “I don’t suppose either of you are fluent in the extinct Pictish tongue?” he quipped matter-of-factly. “From what Rey’s told me about where we’re going, it would probably have a much higher likelihood of actually being useful.”

Rose shot him a serious glare. “Sorry that freaking _Pictish_ isn’t at the top of my extinct languages list.” She grumbled. 

Irritating as the whole exchange was, Kylo caught himself gaining a hint of begrudging respect for Rose.

From over Kylo’s left shoulder, Rey’s voice suddenly echoed across the pavement from the direction of the ship. 

“If you four are quite done sizing each other up and bickering like children, I’d love for us to get going.” She hollered from beside the ship’s boarding ramp, her arms crossed condescendingly. 

Kylo was not impressed at her seizure of control over their departure, but he bit his tongue and conceded that she was right. They were wasting precious time. 

He turned and stalked towards the _Dauntless_ , passing Rey without acknowledgement and climbing the ramp into the belly of the ship. Kylo immediately made for the cockpit, settling into the pilot’s chair and initiating the familiar routine of pre-flight checks. He became so engrossed that it took him several long seconds to acknowledge that Poe— who he’d quickly decided was his least favourite of Rey’s friends—had settled himself down presumptuously in the co-pilot’s chair. 

“What,” Kylo exhaled, glaring at Poe, “do you think you are doing?”

Poe had the audacity to merely appear confused. “Didn’t Rey tell you I’m a pilot?”

“I don’t care if you’ve flown every plane on Earth-“

Kylo was interrupted by Rey appearing at his shoulder and glaring down at him with a heated exasperation burning in her irises. “Just let him stay- he’ll be a nightmare for all of us in the back if he’s not allowed to be up here.”

Kylo exhaled sharply, nostrils flaring. “If you think-“

“- _Thank you_ , Kylo.” Rey interjected airily, immediately turning heel and exiting the cockpit, leaving no room whatsoever for objection. 

Kylo stared after her, his eyes blazing. No one in the First Order would have dared to order him around so bluntly. He was equal parts furious and enthralled at her sheer gutsiness. 

He registered a barely audible chuckle and immediately turned the full impact of his glare in the direction of the co-pilot’s chair.

“You may have a lot of- _sway_ -“ Poe was musing mockingly, his hands gesticulating in tandem with his words. “-where you come from,”

Kylo positively glowered at him.

Poe continued, unflustered. “But you’re going to learn quickly that absolutely freaking _no one_ stands in that girl’s way when she’s made her mind up about something.”

Kylo had to stifle the significant urge to manipulate the energy fields around Poe’s neck.

* * *

The flight was a short one. It was only around half an hour, though Rey strongly suspected that Kylo’s ship- which looked nothing like an ordinary jet and more like something out of the distant future- moved much faster than an ordinary plane. 

Rey wondered if its speed could make up for lost time. It had been she who’d made them late to arrive at the _Dauntless_ , after having insisted shortly after Poe had powered up BB-8 in the SUV that they stop at a post office so she could mail a hasty message to Leia:

_Dear General,_

_I have secured another means of investigating one of the sites of interest (57.586841, -6.271445). I am en route as I pen this letter._

_You may not hear from me for several days, but I will update if I find anything of interest._

_Hope you are well,_

_Rey_

She’d had an inkling that she wouldn’t have a chance to mail it at the airport, which had proved correct when their First Order car had bypassed all normal security measures and arrived directly at the parked _Dauntless._

She suspected that she and her friends’ tardiness had accounted for some of Kylo’s sour mood on the tarmac; he was undoubtedly used to operating with military precision. 

Kylo Ren was difficult, Rey couldn’t deny it. His motivations were murky and he had a strong tendency to behave like an asshole. But their efficient transport to the Isle of Skye was a prime example of why he was a necessary evil. 

_And,_ a quieter corner of Rey’s brain insisted, _there’s something extremely compelling about him underneath all the snarkiness and brooding._

But she wasn’t about to say that last bit out loud, given how much his mere presence seemed to be aggrieving her friends. 

The cockpit sounded suspiciously silent from back in the small passenger hold for the entirety of the flight, so Rey wondered how Kylo and Poe were going about refraining from killing one another. 

Meanwhile, Rose and Finn spent a few minutes quietly complaining about Kylo’s broodiness before spending the rest of their time in transit studying. Rose, to Finn’s great delight, perused a lengthy entry on Pictish in one of his books, while Finn himself consulted a series of writings about the history of Northern Scotland. 

Rey did nothing of the sort, instead spending the flight with her nose pressed against the window, watching fields, then mountains and lochs roll by rhythmically far below. Eventually she noticed that they were passing over the short stretch of ocean that separated the Isle of Skye from the mainland. Detachedly, she began to watch for the appearance of an airport or runway. 

Rey felt confusion and mild concern anchor themselves in her gut as they passed right over Skye’s sole airfield, heading for the North end of the island. She knew that that was where the coordinates lay, but was not sure how Kylo expected to land his ship without any kind of runway. 

She was caught off guard as the _Dauntless’_ forward momentum stopped; it hovered steadfastly for a moment before slowly descending vertically so that Kylo could set it gently on the ground atop a broad green hill. 

Rey exhaled sharply, realizing she’d been holding her breath. She shouldn’t have been surprised, she reflected, that the First Order was above the need for something as simple as…runways. 

As it happened, for this expedition they were also above the use of cars. 

“I’ve put us down as close to the coordinates as is reasonably possible. We’ll hike the rest of the way.” Kylo announced as he emerged from the cockpit to regard Rey. The sound of the engines powering down should have drowned out his speech, but his low timbre was easily audible over their roar. 

_He’s probably used to giving commands over the drone of engines._ She realized blankly. It was easy to forget that he held a high rank within his respective organization as they travelled alone on the _Dauntless_ , a relatively small vessel that he’d piloted himself. 

“Do you need to bring anything heavy?” Kylo pressed, eyeing Rey purposefully. She noticed that his eyes had hardened to a dark flint; the soft tea-brown she’d recognized in them the day before had been replaced by a dark, businesslike shade. 

Rey abruptly shook her head. “Just my satchel, notebook, and topographic map of the Island.” 

“Leave the map, I have tech for that.” 

Behind Kylo, Poe appeared, beaming as he emerged from the cockpit. “Forget whatever First Order shit _he’s_ thinking of-“ Poe stammered impishly, causing Kylo to stiffen and inhale and exhale measuredly, “-we can use BB-8!” 

Somewhere off to Rey’s left, she heard BB-8 beep happily at the mention of his name. 

Rey nodded her assent and followed Finn and Rose off the ship before Kylo could object. It seemed that the best approach to working with him was to leave no room for argument. 

* * *

The quintet gathered in a semi-circle outside the _Dauntless_ , and Rey was immediately struck by the unexpected harshness of the Isle Of Skye climate. It was windier than Edinburgh had been and a few degrees colder. To add insult to injury, it was still misting as it had been back at the airport- that uncomfortable, moist form of Insular weather that tended to seep through one’s skin and leave an unshakeable chill in its wake. 

She stifled a shiver, desperate to not give Kylo the satisfaction that he had been right. She was not about to admit that she was hopelessly underdressed. 

Luckily, Rey figured, she was tough in the face of discomfort- she had years of experience battling hunger and self-driven survival on the streets of London to lean on. 

She swiftly returned her thoughts to the task at hand, regarding Kylo and her friends with a stoic expression as she pulled her meagre jacket tighter around her shoulders. 

She was about to speak when Finn beat her to it. 

“So we’re going to follow a robot-“ 

“Droid.” Poe corrected lazily. 

“Into a _huge_ -ass valley,” Finn continued, “following coordinates of an unknown degree of precision-“ 

“It’s somewhere less than two hours’ walk from this location-“ Kylo contributed unhelpfully. 

“To look for…what exactly?” 

“We don’t know.” Rey offered neutrally. 

“Ah.” Finn mused. “This is an extraordinarily high quality plan.” 

Rey rolled her eyes. Kylo appeared similarly exasperated. “What needs to be resolved is who will remain with the _Dauntless_ while the rest of us hunt for the location of interest.” He urged, his tone impatient. “Personally, I nominate the pilot who makes me want to throw something at his head every time he opens his mouth-“ 

“I take that as a tremendous compliment.” Poe declared amicably. 

_“Must have been a fun half hour of flying for Poe.”_ Rose whispered to Rey, sniggering. 

Rey smirked. “If it’s fine by Poe it’s fine by me.” She announced. 

Poe nodded his assent. “Much as I would love to hike around this moist collection of hills with all of you, I will quite happily stay behind inside this warm, high-tech flying vehicle-” 

“Touch anything on the _Dauntless_ and I will wring your neck.” Kylo muttered, half to himself. 

_“Right-“_ Rey interrupted, hoping to both de-escalate the situation and to get the group moving before she lost any further body heat to the rain and wind. “Let’s get going.” 

She hastily provided BB-8 with the coordinates they were seeking, entering them into his circuits with shivering fingers. “We’ll follow you, okay?” she whispered, trusting that the droid would understand. 

He whirred thoughtfully as she entered the last digit, then proceeded to generate a small holograph-projected map of the northern tip of the Isle of Skye. A sizeable circle was highlighted in the map’s centre- the region that they would have to search in hopes of finding…whatever it was they were looking for. Rey only got a few seconds of solid examination of the map before BB-8 took off excitedly down the hill, chirruping as he rolled over the short emerald-shaded grass. 

Rey fell into step beside Kylo as they set off to follow the droid, leaving Poe and the _Dauntless_ further behind with every step. Rose and Finn followed them a few metres behind, immediately engrossing themselves in a debate about the pre-medieval history of the region. 

Rey’s personal misgivings, apprehensions, and queries about the task at hand, which were ample in number after years of research and preparation, only kept her brain occupied and her mouth silent for a few minutes before her curiosity got the best of her. She soon turned her attention to the tall, dark man at her side as they carefully made their way down a rock-strewn slope, following BB-8. 

“So,” Rey announced, causing Kylo to regard her strangely and furrow his brows in a way that was, to her great annoyance, already becoming familiar. “My supervisor and I have spent years poring over various historical accounts of this region from the last few thousand years and cross-referencing them with dozens of annals and chronicles to isolate the coordinates we are currently following,” she proclaimed testily, “how did the First Order go about doing the same thing?” 

Kylo only appeared stunned by her question for an instant, before he reined in his expression. 

_It’s a fair question_. Rey told herself stubbornly. _He owes me some answers._

Kylo waited until Rey had finished scrambling over a particularly large boulder before responding slowly, as though reluctant to divulge anything of substance. “The location that we’re seeking gives off certain…traceable emissions.” 

_So, the First Order possesses the same energy-tracing technology as the Resistance._ Rey observed prudently. _Can’t say that’s a surprise._

“Your research into the matter,” Kylo continued- unprompted, to Rey’s surprise- “while not well documented or easy to trace-“ 

Rey cast him a sideways glance, huffing slightly at his inability to go three sentences without insulting or criticizing her. 

“-was eventually uncovered and confirmed my suspicions about the whereabouts hinted at by the emissions.” 

“So…you hacked me?” Rey mused through gritted teeth. “Also- _your_ suspicions? Or the First Order’s?” 

Kylo appeared intrigued, perhaps surprised at her careful attention to his speech. “It’s not hacking if there’s nothing of substance to hack through in the first place.” He quipped first with an irritable smugness. “And I misspoke, I meant the First Order’s.” 

_I don’t believe that._ Rey decided stubbornly. Beneath her feet, the ground was levelling; though she’d generated a little heat in the effort of the trek down the hill, she was still fighting the desire to shiver violently. 

On an impulse, or perhaps to give herself something to think about aside from how cold she was, Rey decided to try and press Kylo further. 

“Back in my office,” Rey started again, causing Kylo to avert his eyes from the horizon and affix them to hers. “you said ‘my business on Skye’. What is that business? Why are you here?” 

He was studying her intently, his eyes looking less like the hardened dark orbs she’d observed on the _Dauntless_ and instead regaining the warm chocolate colour that she’d recognized the first time she’d seen them. 

“You ask a lot of questions.” he murmured after a time, his voice surprisingly earnest. His eyes remained locked on Rey’s; their forward progress across the valley had slowed. 

“If I told you why _I’m_ here, would you tell me?” Rey tried hopefully. 

“Is there a reason beyond academic curiosity?” He pried. 

“Yes.” Rey responded quickly. 

Kylo opened his mouth slowly, as if intending to reply, but he was abruptly cut off by Rose. 

“Rey!” Her friend was exclaiming, jogging across the grass to close the distance between she and Rey and Kylo. Finn trailed after her, looking buoyant. 

Inwardly, Rey was cursing. She‘d been _so close_ to finally getting something out of Kylo. 

She tried to mask her irritation as she broke she and Kylo’s impromptu staring contest and uttered a punctuated. “ _Yes_ , Rose?” 

“You keep saying Pictish stuff is important, right?” 

“I said it _might_ be, based on the types of sources that helped Luke and I isolate this location-“ 

“There’s a poorly studied Pictish standing stone at the base of one of these ridges-“ Rose informed her jubilantly. “Finn just found it in this pocket guide-" 

“-Right here!” Finn interjected, waving a small blue textbook that Rey had not realized he’d managed to bring along. 

“Could it be marking whatever we’re looking for?” Rose urged, her eyes scanning Rey and Kylo. 

Kylo gave a minute shrug and looked toward Rey, evidently deferring to her when it came to the subject of millennium-old rocks.  
“It’s as good a lead as any.” Rey admitted as Finn passed her the book. She studied the page that Finn had flagged- a short decades-old paragraph describing the finding of a badly weathered but intact standing stone by a group of hikers. There was no description of the stone’s location aside from _“Well inland on the Northern peninsula of the Isle of Skye”_ , which was maddeningly unhelpful. 

“At least now we have something to look for?” Rose offered with a shrug. 

Rey nodded and returned the book to Finn. The group resumed its sluggish pace across the valley in the wake of BB-8’s rolling trail, each member now scanning the mounds of ancient green hills and darkened cliffs for…a rock that wasn’t like other rocks. 

Rey examined Kylo’s face for an indication that they could resume their previous conversation once the walking recommenced, but he was steadfastly scanning the landscape as though newly re-committed to their task, his eyes flint-like once more. 

Rey sighed and resolved to continue silently with their steady search. A good hour of damp meandering through the dramatic landscape occurred before Kylo spoke to her again. 

It was only once the four of them halted on a rocky outcrop, opting for a short rest and consultation of BB-8’s holograph, that kylo finally acknowledged her. 

Finn and Rose were intently absorbed in trying to get BB-8 to “zoom in” on a certain hill that looked like “the one” (Rey internally thought that it looked like every other freaking hill they’d seen that day), so they didn’t notice her wandering a few metres away, lost in thought. 

Rey found herself on a grand bluff overlooking the valley. It was, truthfully, a stunning, untarnished region that as rich in historical and geographical intrigue as it was devoid of human population. She found herself reflecting that it had probably looked virtually the same for centuries, maybe even millennia. 

_Living history_. She mused pensively, suddenly feeling exceedingly grateful to be out walking through such a place instead of being penned up in her cramped office. 

Rey’s gratitude was only slightly tarnished by how cold and damp she felt. She realized that at some point her teeth had started chattering. 

She was startled out of her reverie when an outstretched hand holding an ebony cloak suddenly materialized at her side. Kylo had snuck up on her noiselessly, extending his cloak with a painfully neutral expression on his face. 

_How does a man that big move so quietly?_ Rey wondered, scrunching up her eyebrows as she eyed Kylo’s offering suspiciously. 

“Take it.” He muttered, his voice a low rumble. 

Rey immediately grew defensive. “I don’t _need_ -“ 

“You’re shivering. It’s distracting.” 

Rey shut her mouth and eyed him warily. Slowly, she took the cloak from his outstretched hand. “Won’t you be cold?” 

Kylo shook his head. He was clad in his usual all-black, every-surface-covered getup. Nothing below his mid-neck region was exposed, so why _would_ he be cold? 

_He even perpetually wears gloves_. Rey observed with a start, realizing that she’d never actually seen his hands. She’d never met a person so guarded, both mentally and physically. She found her thoughts straying towards wondering how he had become this way. 

_What has to happen to a person like him to make him cover every bit of himself, all the time?_

When she realized that Kylo was walking away, she muttered a hurried “Thank you.” 

He paused and glanced back at her over his shoulder. “Maybe now you’ll walk faster.” 

Rey huffed unhappily, muttering “ _Asshole_ ” to herself as she watched him walk away. 

She tightened the cloak around her shoulders, irritated to find that it was pleasantly warm and smelled a bit like the aftermath of a rainstorm with a hint of…jasmine, perhaps? 

_One of my favourite teas_ …Rey thought unhappily, finding it tough to associate the image of a delicate jasmine flower with that of Kylo, who was now arguing with Finn and Rose in the distance. 

* * *

Their journey continued, ever onward, with ever more hills and grass. There was no sun visible through the thick cloud cover over Skye, but Kylo’s datapad informed the group that it was now well into the afternoon. 

The most exciting occurrences of the day for Rey had thus far been three things: the first two were Finn _thinking_ he’d seen a Pictish standing stone—both sightings had proven to be just rather tall, narrow boulders, to the group’s great disappointment—and the third was when Rose had realized that Rey was wearing Kylo’s cloak. 

“What is _this_?!” Rose had hissed obnoxiously, when Rey had made the mistake of falling into step beside her shortly after lunch. Her friend eyed the cloak with significant distrust, even poking it as if to test whether it would self-destruct with Rey underneath it. 

“Don’t ask. I was cold.” Rey mumbled, grimacing. 

“ _He_ gave it to you?” Rose continued incredulously, staring open-mouthed at Kylo’s lumbering figure as he walked along several metres ahead. “I did not have him pegged as generous-“ 

“He didn’t like the way I was shivering.” 

Rose shot her a mocking smile. “Ah yes…the age-old act of…randomly giving people clothing if their trembling is annoying. That is _definitely_ a thing that people do.” 

“He’s a pompous asshole who hates me. I think he views my shaking muscles as an inefficiency.” 

“If you say so,” Rose trilled. “ _I_ think you’re softening him up.” 

Rey glanced at the man in question with a raised eyebrow. Kylo was currently listening to Finn tell a joke with an impassive expression. When the punchline was delivered, he didn’t so much as bat an eye. Finn appeared confused and promptly began to deliver another “even funnier” one. 

Rey shook her head with a smirk. “He remains stiff as a board.” 

“Whatever.” Rey murmured. “The cloak says otherwise.” 

Rey decided not to dignify Rose’s declaration with a response. 

It was somewhat by accident when, a short while later, she stumbled—like, _literally_ stumbled—into the stone they were looking for. 

She’d been leading the group as they traversed a rocky outcrop at the base of a particularly large, windswept hill, when she rounded a sharp corner and slammed into a rocky structure that was well over six feet tall. 

Her initial reaction was to curse colourfully, which caused Finn to round the corner hastily behind her, eyes wide as he realized what Rey had collided with. 

“She found it!” he hollered as BB-8, Kylo, and Rose materialized beside them. 

“Is it really-?” Rey pondered, massaging her forehead where it had collided with the stone. 

Kylo’s expression grew as close to awestruck as she’d ever seen it. Very slowly, he extended a gloved hand to place his fingertips on the carved symbol-laden surface of the stone. 

“Yes.” He said measuredly, evidently deep in thought. 

“This is the place.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Congrats on making it through this heavy instalment! 
> 
> I promise, things are about to start picking up speed now that we've laid some groundwork. Thanks to everyone who's read the beginning of the story so far! I hope to keep writing and updating a lot in the near future!
> 
> A couple notes about the locations/historical themes from this chapter if anyone is interested:
> 
> \- The Isle of Skye is a very real, very beautiful location off the coast of Northwest Scotland  
> \- The Pictish culture is an authentic one that preceded medieval Scotland (AKA "Alba"); they had a pretty uncontested hold over much of Scotland for several centuries (until about 900AD) and engaged in frequent skirmishes with the Gaels in the southwest and the Britons and Anglo-Saxons to the south  
> \- The Picts did leave a bunch of beautifully carved standing stones across the northern part of the Island of Britain, and it's not a stretch to imagine a fictitious one on Skye as there are several known real ones there already. Google Pictish Standing Stones if you'd like to see some lovely Celtic art!
> 
> Thanks again for reading and hope to see you at the next chapter!


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